Coppola's dream: superstar wine / He expands Napa vineyard to make reds rivaling the French

Carol Emert, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, December 10, 2002

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Niebaum-Coppola Estate. Chronicle Graphic

Niebaum-Coppola Estate. Chronicle Graphic

Coppola's dream: superstar wine / He expands Napa vineyard to make reds rivaling the French

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Francis Ford Coppola's purchase of the historic Cohn Vineyard in Rutherford is part of what the filmmaker calls a grand plan to make his Niebaum-Coppola Wine Estate the country's top wine house, on par with the great producers of France.

The acquisition may be followed soon by a second major purchase. Coppola officials declined to discuss details, but said the deal may be announced in weeks.

"Our goal is to become America's great wine estate, equivalent to a Bordeaux 'first growth,' and we have the land and grapes necessary to do so," Coppola, director of such blockbusters as "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now, " said Monday.

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First growth, or Premier Cru Classe, refers to five designated Bordeaux houses -- Haut-Brion, Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Margaux and Mouton -- that are so well regarded they can charge hundreds of dollars per bottle in a good year.

Last week, Niebaum-Coppola paid millions for 60 acres of the adjacent Cohn Vineyard, boosting Coppola's estate vineyard land to 260 acres and his total holding to 2,010 acres. Coppola also hopes to purchase grapes from 24 acres of the Cohn Vineyard that will be retained by a Cohn heir, Brett Lopez.

Niebaum-Coppola is negotiating a second vineyard acquisition, which should be announced in a few weeks, said chief executive officer Jay Shoemaker, declining to give details.

Coppola's goal is to increase his production of estate-grown wines to between 50,000 and 60,000 cases from about 20,000. That's about the size of the great Bordeaux houses and medium-sized for a U.S. winery.

Coppola's wine ambitions contrast greatly with his humble beginnings in the wine world. He bought part of the former Inglenook estate in 1975 as a weekend getaway and, on the advice of neighbors such as Robert Mondavi, began making wine at home.

His first decade or so of producing his Bordeaux-style Rubicon was pooh- poohed by the wine establishment; much of the wine wound up unsold in warehouses, said Shoemaker.

But over the years, Coppola hired a top-notch winemaker, Scott McLeod, and a strong management team, including Shoemaker. The winery's reputation strengthened considerably.

So did its production. Shoemaker and his team began a massive rollout of nonestate wines because they could get bank financing to expand that business; Coppola had said he was finished bankrolling Niebaum-Coppola.

But last summer, Coppola looked around him and saw a "behemoth he couldn't relate to," said Shoemaker. "He said, 'What I really want to be is Margaux. I want to be the greatest winery in the U.S. and be regarded that way.' "

The managers shifted gears and decided to refocus on high-end estate wines. That led to the purchase of the Cohn land, the pending acquisition, and the renovation of the historic Inglenook winery, which recently began making wine after a nearly four-decade hiatus.

Niebaum-Coppola outbid Opus One, a joint venture between Mondavi and Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, for the Cohn land, but Coppola said he "inquired before bidding aggressively if Mr. Mondavi had any interest in this property for his family, grandchildren, etc."

After being told that the deal was strictly business, "we felt the need to make the winning bid" because of the opportunity to expand the estate, Coppola said.

Shoemaker said the sales price of $31.5 million reported in The Chronicle and elsewhere is incorrect, but he declined to provide the amount.

With the Cohn property, Niebaum-Coppola is the largest landowner in the premium "Rutherford Bench" area west of Highway 29, which is considered one of the top three or four areas in Napa County for growing Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

The Niebaum-Coppola land is bounded by the Cohn estate and several other parcels; it could not be learned which of them Niebaum-Coppola is trying to acquire.

Coppola said he is not interested in achieving Bordeaux-size prices for his estate wines. His goal is to bring out the unique characteristics of the Inglenook land, referred to in the wine industry as "terroir."

"I don't like things to cost so much that few people can afford them," he said. "I have no goals regarding prices -- only of quality, authenticity, uniqueness (terroir) and most of all, pleasure."

The plan is to expand Coppola's Rubicon blend, which retails for $100 per bottle, from about 5,000 cases a year to between 15,000 and 30,000 cases.

Other estate wines that will be expanded include Niebaum-Coppola's Cask Cabernet, a Zinfandel and a Syrah-Merlot blend.

Other top-flight California wineries, such as Caymus, Chateau Montelena, Grgich and Far Niente, "are all about 40,000 to 60,000 cases," said Mike Fisher, a St. Helena wine industry consultant. "It's a very efficient organization at that size."

Bigger wineries find it difficult to charge over $100 per bottle because the wines aren't rare, he said.

Mondavi's high-end Opus One business, which competes with Niebaum-Coppola's Rubicon, produces about 30,000 cases per year, he said.

Coppola has plenty of competition for the position of California's Cabernet top dog, including Colgin, Harlan, Opus One, Staglin and Silver Oak, said Fisher of Motto Kryla & Fisher.

In addition to Niebaum-Coppola's high-end wines, the company produces about 500,000 cases a year of medium-priced, nonestate wine with grapes purchased from other growers.

The nonestate business, with Chardonnays and Merlots retailing for $15 to $17, is financing the expansion of the estate vineyards, which are Coppola's passion.

Wineries' reputations rest largely on the wines they produce from grapes grown on their own property.

Separately from its wine business, Niebaum-Coppola, which runs two eponymous Italian eateries in San Francisco and Palo Alto, is developing a new restaurant concept based on the Italian Enoteca, a casual wine bar, Shoemaker said.